SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 20184:00PM – 5:30 PMPRE-REGISTER AND OBTAIN MATERIALS AT THE LIBRARY.

Why do readers keep turning the pages? Suspense. Building suspense into your work is an essential element of fiction, no matter what genre you write. In this interactive workshop, award-winning crime thriller author Libby Fischer Hellmann explains how to do it and illustrates techniques you can apply to your writing right away.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Libby Fischer Hellmann left a career in broadcast news in Washington, DC and moved to Chicago 35 years ago, where she, naturally, began to write gritty crime fiction. Fifteen novels and twenty-five short stories later, she claims they’ll take her out of the Windy City feet first.

She has been nominated for many awards in the mystery and crime writing community and has even won a few. She has been a finalist twice for the Anthony and three times for Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year. She has also been nominated for the Agatha, the Shamus, the Daphne, and has won the IPPY and the Readers Choice Award multiple times.

Her novels include the now five-volume Ellie Foreman series, which she describes as a cross between “Desperate Housewives” and “24;” the hard-boiled 4-volume Georgia Davis PI series, and four stand-alone historical thrillers set during Revolutionary Iran, Cuba, the Sixties, and WW2. Her short stories have been published in a dozen anthologies, the Saturday Evening Post, and Ed Gorman’s “25 Criminally Good Short Stories” collection.

Libby hosts both a TV and radio interview show and conducts writing workshops at libraries and other venues. She was the national president of Sisters In Crime, a 3500 member organization dedicated to the advancement of female crime fiction authors.

Her books have been translated into Spanish, German, Italian, and Chinese. All her books are available in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.

Friends of the Seward Library hope that you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends! A reminder that the annual Wish Tree is up and ready for sponsors of children’s and young adult books! Help make a ‘book wish’ come true!

Library is open today, December 26, 2017 through December 30th, closed Sunday and Monday January 1st, 2018.

Sponsors can donate as a tax deduction to the Friends, aka SCLA, as a 501(c)3 and help with acquiring new reading adventures for Seward’s youth. The Wish Tree will be up until mid-January, so stop by soon and help us meet our 60 book goal. Books may be sponsored for $20 each and can have a family name or memorial put on a book plate that stays in the book. More than one book can be sponsored at one time.

The Wish Tree is located upstairs in the library across from the information desk. While there, check out the used books for sale and the bin of children’s books that are free.​Happy New Year!Seward Community Library Association (SCLA)aka Friends of the Seward Librarywww.friendsofsclm.org

Story TimeWe have two special story time events in November. Story Times are every Friday at 11am in the Children’s Room for children ages birth to 5 years old.

Thursday, November 16 at 11 am: We will have a special Story Time with a special guest, Public Health Nurse, Amanda McKinley, to learn about germs and the importance of handwashing.

Friday, November 17 at 11 am: We will begin our monthly Museum Story Time with Curator Maddi McGraw where we'll learn about how to be “Museum Explorers”!

Seward Community Book ClubBook Club meets every third Saturday of the month at 11am in the Meeting Room through April.

Saturday, November 18 at 11 am: We will discuss Reading Lolita in Tehran, a book by Iranian author and professor Azar Nafisi. Published in 2003, it was on the New York Times bestseller list for over one hundred weeks and has been translated into thirty-two languages. Books are available for check out at the Library Circulation Desk.

Saturday, December 16 at 11 am: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle will be available at the November 18th meeting.

Homeshool Lunch BunchLunch Bunch meets the last Wednesday of every month September-April from 12:30-1:30pm. This event is for homeschooled students of all ages and are divided up in three different spaces depending on age group.

Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 12:30 pm: The older age group (approx. 4th grade on up) will learn about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and how to write a six-word novel with Tim Morrow.

Note that there is no Lunch Bunch in December.

Children's Play TimePlay Time is every Saturday from 12pm-5pm for children and their caregivers who are welcome to drop by for unstructured play time with carefully selected developmental toys, read stories to each other, and make friends.

Play 'N ChatThis program is facilitated by the Infant Learning Program and is a great opportunity for children to interact and families to get to know each other. Held every Wednesday from 10am to 11:30am in the library community room. For information, contact us at (907) 224-4082 or libmus@cityofseward.net.

Closure DatesLibrary Museum will be closed on Thanksgiving November 23-24, 2017. We will be open on Saturday, November 25, 2017. We will also be closed for a Training/Work Day on December 7, 2017.

4th Open HouseSaturday, Nov 4, 1-4 pmJoin us for fun and engaging activities at the Library & Museum to celebrate our community after a long summer and tourist season.

Can Your Fines: We will forgive overdue fines with canned/dry food donations for the local food bank. You also get an additional ticket for prize drawings.

Free Museum Admission: Check out the new temporary Commercial Fishing in the Resurrection Bay exhibit and share your fishing stories.

Hot Chocolate Bar: Make a special hot chocolate concoction with tasty flavorings and toppings

Lego Play Time: Get a pass from the library front desk to get into play with Legos in the Meeting Room. Duplos will be made available to play with in the Children's Room. (requires adult supervision)

Live Music: Acoustic guitar player and singer Luke Rosier will play upstairs 1:30-2:30

Paint a Rock: Pick out a rock to paint to take home or to leave with us for our beautiful garden. Don't forget to wear your painting clothes.

Photo Booth: Stop by the YA Room for some fun photos with silly winter props.

Prize Drawings: Each visitor gets a ticket upon entering the building for prize drawings. Need to be present to win random drawings for small prizes. No need to be present to win grand prize drawings for a Kindle Fire or $100 Amazon gift card at 2:30 and 3:30.